Due Fab Feb 2009 - here comes the easy peasy (?!) wee-wee sneezy third trimester (if you please, no baby arrivals on this thread)

[dinkystinky]

Here's our sparkling new thread and the latest list - have stuck Munteria at the end (Munteria, just put in your details)

TinkerbellesMum DC3 (3rd baby. Lily-Hope born 20 weeks 28-29/9/05, Tink born 31 weeks 17/7/06, age 27, Birmingham) Official due date 01/02/09 but expected from early December
florrieandme DC2 26/01/2009
laidback DC4 27/01/2009 (age 34, North Devon)
nkweto DC2 30/01/2009 (age 34, West London)
oooggs DC4 30/01/2009 (age 34, Cornwall)
MamaGoose DC3 30/01/2009 (age 32, Spain)
MissMitford 31/01/2009
Plethora 31/01/2009 (age 37, East London but moving soon)
Ethelredtheunready (age 40, 2nd Baby, Tilly born 19/2/06, DC2 01/02/2009- Currently Chichester, soon to be Epping)
AngelDoll DC1 01/02/2009 (age 31, Sheffield)
Supersteph DC2 01/02/2009 (age 24, Torbay)
jenandbean DC2 02/02/2009
ruthmollymummy 02/02/2009
plantsitter 02/02/2009
idontbelieveit DC2 02/02/2009 (age 31, Leeds)
Tummytrouble 03/02/2009
Questionkid DC1 3/2/09 (age 33, living in Wallington, Surrey)
jamescagney 03/02/2009 (aged 33,Clare, Rep of Ireland)
Pregnantpopcornprincess DC3 04/02/2009 (pregnant with twins)(age 31, West Sussex)
MsLucy Boy 04/02/2009 (age 38, North London)
PinkTulips DC3 04/02/2009 (age 24, Roscommon, Ireland)
Davidsmom DC2 04/02/2009 (age 39, Cheshire)
MissDelighted DC1 05/02/2009
m2alyssa DC2 05/02/2009 (age 30, Isle of Man)
Jelliebelly DC2 06/02/2009 (age 37)
Swampster (HasAWarmFuzzy) 06/02/09 (age 40, south London)
Gettingbigger 06/02/08
Guitargirl DC2 07/02/2009
Aila DC2 07/02/2009
Littlemissnorty DC2 08/02/09 (age 39, Kent)
Biscuitytrousers 08/02/2009 (age 31, Thames Ditton)
MarkStretch DC2 07/02/2009 (age 29, Norfolk)
KT1983 09/02/2009
Tinasan DC2 09/02/2009
Herbgarden 09-11/02/09 (age 38 Berkshire)
Ewemoo 07/02/2009
Singingintherain DC3 10/02/2009
KazzaL DC2 10/02/2009 approx (age 34, Ciren, Gloucs)
littleboyblue DC2 due early-mid Feb (age 27, Surrey)
Jenniferturkington DC2 11/02/2009
thehouseofmirth DC2 11/02/09 (age 38, Wimbledon)
Clarabumps DC2 12/02/2009 (age 27, Glasgow)
BumpVLump 12/02/09 (age 29, Surrey)
Louisebunny 13-15/02/09
Mapleleaf 13/02/2009 (age 38, Cambridge)
Nadssss 13/2/9 (age 29, living w. london)
Jelliebaby DC2 14/02/2009 (AGE 29, Cheshire)
Loopylula DC2 14/02/2009 (age 28, Sussex)
Dinkymum DC2 14/02/2009 (age 28, Notts)
Francesrivis 15/02/2009 (age 38, Devon)
onwardandupward DC2 second week of Feb (age 35, south west)
Americas 16/02/2009 (age 32, London)
MrsThreads DC1 16/02/2009 (age 36, Cheshire)
shubiedoo DC3 17/02/2009 (age 37, Canada)
Pluto DC2 18/02/09 (age 38, Kent)
CassandraB DC1 18/02/09 (age 35, Hampshire)
Catstar DC2 18/02/09 (age 35, Surrey)
Ugg first baby due 18/02/09 (32, Cheshire)
Fruitstick DC2 19/02/2009 (age 32, London)
Imaginewittynamehere DC2 19/02/2009 (age 32, Cambs)
McDreamy DC3 19/02/2009 (age 37, Cyprus but will give birth in Bucks)
Dinkystinky DS2 19/2/09 (age 31, London)
DizzyBrummie DC2 17/02/2009 (age 36, Berks)
Rachrox DC3 20/02/2009 (age 28, Glos also!)
Calico1 DC2 21/02/2009 (age 40, West Herts)
Mentalpup DC2 21/02/09 (age 30, Glos)
Rosieposey DC4 21/02/09 (age 36, Wilts)
mrsy first baby due 22/02/09 (24, Maidstone, Kent)
scubagroover 22/02/09 (31, London)
Winemakesmummyclever 23/0/09 (age 34, Lancs)
Neeerly3 DC3 23/02/09 (age 32, Mansfield)
Mirry71 DC1 23/02/09 (london)
LardyBump 24/02/09
Spottyshoes DC2 24/02/09 (aged 28)
Chilledmama DC2 25/02/2009 (age 31, Hampshire
dd1ofcolandgerry DC2 25/02/2009
Cocodrillo DC3 26/02/2009 (age 34, south london)
MrsBick DC2 26/02/2009 (Age 25, living in Surrey)
charlie7 DC2 28/02/2009 (Age 33, living in the Inner Hebrides)
Babyignoramus DC1 27/02/2009 (age 27, Brighton)
Mumoverseas DC4 28/2/2009 (age 40, Saudi Arabia/West Sussex)
Blinamouse
Elkiedee
Nellstar TBC
zikel DC2 TBC (23, Coventry)
theSuburbanDryad DC2 (age 26, living in South Bucks)
Munteria DC2 (38,London)

Hey Lardy - I wouldn't advise induction by choice either. Women I've spoken to who've done both say that the pain of induced contractions is much much harder to cope with than the ones your body makes - because you're being induced, your body isn't making as many of its own painkilling hormones as part of the cascade, the cascade has been interrupted by the drip. I've only done the induced kind so far, so am looking forward to it being a walk in the park without induction... hehe

Oh, and on posterior labour, well you all know I've BTDT Things about posterior labour which were useful to me: cold not warm for pain relief (the midwives thought I was very weird, but my pain relief until the transition was alternating between firm lower back massage and applying a bag of frozen peas. Which we made soup with the day after the baby was born ); tens machine absolutely bloody get it off me useless (because of the labour pain all being in my back, it jsut seemed to intensify the pain which is not what it says on the label)

All these things are different for different women of course.

Oh, and that my midwife assures me that if we are back-to-back this time, it won't be anything like the issue it was last time, because of having already birthed a baby vaginally - that the baby would be more likely to turn in labour (which never happened last time), or that in any case it would find it easier to navigate its way down the tubes. So no reason to think it'll be loooooong and that some women do have repeat posteriors just because of their womb shape. So I've decided it's no big deal but I'm still going to try every trick out there to anteriorise this child

OK so do you think I should try natural remadies then.

Raspberry leaf tea, Clary, sage and Lavender and evening primrose oil from 34 week... And then step it up at 37 weeks with the Caullophylum!!! Is it safe to take them all???? Am I just being a freak????

lardybump, i would never want to go through an induction again after my last one at 42 weeks. I know some women find it absolutely fine but it was absolutely the worst experience of my life. The sonographer told me at my term+10 scan that dd would be at least 10lb. She was 8lb15oz. Scans can be 10% out and when dealing with small amounts that can make quite a difference to the weight. Your size has very little to do with the size of the baby and if the midwife is concerned about your size she'll recommend a scan anyway. I'm much bigger this time than last but my consultant believes already that this baby will be smaller than dd. (i'm having extra scans as there's concern about IUGR).
Try not to worry. Your body can do it! Unless you have gestational diabetes or your husband is a giant compared to you it's very unlikely you'll grow a baby you can't birth.
Hope this helps a bit.

And try not to be afraid of this labour because of what happened last time. The likelihood is that it will be totally different and much more manageable - second time round it often is.

Though if it looked like it was going to be back-to-back, I have to confess, I would be talking about an elective CS.

Thank you all for your kind and reasuring words.... I think that I am taking too much notice of peoples comments and looking into things too much. My sister went 2 weeks over with her last baby and he was almost 12 lbs and too big for her to birth naturally so she had an emergency C, her MW never spotted that he was so big. It doesn't help when people ask if I am having twins or say things like "so you must be due any day now"... etc etc..... I am so sorry for being a fuss pot.....

DD was back to back I really dont want that again....

Does anyone know what the Transcerebellar Diameter (TCD) measurement is?

Everyone always asks me if I'm having twins - and assumes I'm ready to pop any time now - no one can believe it's not til Feb. Midwife wondered if the other two were big cos I'm so huge. But they were just 7 1/2 and 8 1/2 lb. The rest was water. And placenta. And gorey stuff!

Don't know what TCD is though

Dinky - just wondering whether all ok with your work situation - just heard about the redundancies (via Amanda in resi who I still keep in touch with) and hope you are not affected ?

oooh - lots of back to back labours here then. I am counting on my body to know what it's doing second time round - also I used to be a real fitness fanatic with a washboard stomach and I have since read that very tight abs can make it hard for the baby to turn to face the right position. As there is no chance of tight abs this time (just never got round to it really!) I'm more hopeful.

Better dash as microwave dinner just pinged! Little O is still snuffling round her cot with her bum in the air more than an hour after I put her down! She happy though, just chattering to Igglepiggle .

Sleep well!

Another back to back here too.

I am downing the Gaviscon tonight.

Hi ladies

No time to catch up as I should be working

TCD is measurement of cerebellum in the brain - no idea re significance though - sorry

Glad to see all was ok yesterday MArkstretch....I have anti-D (and GTT) on Monday.

Am also on Gaviscon...bottles everywhere, work, handbag, car, next to bed.......

Catch up tomorrow x

I've survived without the gaviscon so far, am finding milk is good enough. I'm sure by abut 20 weeks last time i was getting through a bottle a day! Weird. Had a very bad experience after late night chinese last thursday though [green with sicky burps emoticon].

lardy - you should voice all of your concerns to your midwife if she's nice and see if she can set your mind at rest a bit more. That's her job after all.

Anyone else self employed and know about claiming MA, i was employed and self employed last time so got SMP but this time i'm just self employed...

I was not self employed the first time, but has started a new job recently and claimed MA.

Downloaded the form early from DWP site and sent if off.. it was fairly painles although the form is very long. Money was paid direct into my account and I simply rang them and let them know when I went back to work and they stopped the payments.

Not sure if that answers your question..

Evening all! I'll never catch up with all the chat that's been ocurring whilst I've had my marigolds on today! House much better & I feel much better. Thanks for your advice. Have drawn up list of jobs for DH and will chat to him tomorrow. Problem is that I am crap at delegation and DH is blind to clutter & dirt- although he does love the hoover, so that's going on his list!

To all those scared of labour I'd really recommend reading this book. I managed 18 hours of labour with DS with only a TENS machine and was 9cm dilated when I arrived at hospital. Ultimately I had to have a spinal as he was at a funny angle and had to be yanked out by a ventouse but I firmly believe that usually it's a mind over matter thing and that you have to believe and trust that your body will try its best to do what it's designed for. I really enjoyed my labour with DS but also took the view that labour is a means to end thing so didn't get upset that I had to have help to get him out. This time it looks like I'm going to have a C-section which is not my first choice but I don't want to risk the 18-40% chance I've been given that my bottom will fall out! I need to get m head in the right place for this and I'd love it if someone could start a "how to have a good c-section" discussion on FB.

Thanks for all the indiestion tips. Unfortunately, a side effect of this pregnancy is that I have a strong aversion to anything minty!

Did you see this one thom?

I also seem to remember seeing one recently where people were suggesting handy things to have around. My top tip would be a straw bottle.

After two emergency CSs I really am looking forward to an elective - though neither emergency was such a bad experience.

Ah, this group is refreshing after coming from an NCT breastfeeding antenatal class and being the only person (I think, unless anyone never spoke up and I didn't notice) who is AP and by that I mean most people shrieked at the idea of breastfeeding for six weeks! You can imagine the response when she said that WHO and UNICEF recommend feeding for two years!

Spotty, can you relink cause I may top up rather than getting others. A birth to potty pack is plenty but it can't hurt to have spares. I still have loads of liners, but they do come with 2000 and Tink was trying to potty train just over a year old.

lardybump the sex of the baby isn't always obvious to a lay person. With Tink we looked the week before she was born and because we were looking it was quite obvious that there were two thick white lines, but if they're not deliberately looking then they won't necessarily get a good pic. Tell them you're keeping it a surprise too. I don't know much about bigger babies but they do say that smaller babies are harder to deliver because there is less for the body to work with. I agree with the others, the induction will make it harder on you. The only thing that wouldn't so much is a sweep which are only painful to do but don't necessarily work. Mum went to 44 weeks with my sister and she was only 8lb something, she wasn't much bigger than me who was born sick at 38 weeks after the placenta failed.

THOM, your bottom will fall out???

Today I've been to Boots and bought most of the (none-ours) children's presents, spent £120 and got £25 worth of points plus a voucher for £5 of points if I go back to the next event in two weeks when I plan on spending lots of money on our children! I decided a long time ago that this year we needed to be prepared because we could be too busy to go shopping in December!

MS, sorry to read about your indigestion/heartbearn. Me thinks it was that bacon sandwich! Karma?
I've got a final appointment with my consultant here in Saudi on Saturday morning before I fly back to the UK until the end of December and I'm hoping he'll give us a date for our cs then. Will be nice to know when DS is arriving.
Hope everyone has a good day

just ordered even more of the super whisper ones

I only know one person (my generation) that breastfed longer than 3 months. Actually it was only my cousin and SIL that did for 3 mths - every else I know has used bottles. I didn't go to NCT so there wasn't much support around for me had I needed any. Are they worth going to for a 2nd timer TBM?

I know I've said it before but I loved my elective CS! Found it avery calm and positive experience

I have been meaning to ask since I joined MN - What is AP? I get the meaning just not what it stands for.

DD is ill again! She has come down with a streaming cold, bunged up, runny eyes, general crusty-ness.

She's got a temperature and was up last night at 11pm, 1am, 4am and 5am.

So I am going to have to ring my manager and tell her I am taking a days unpaid leave as I've got no A/L left to take!

On the subject of b/f, I got no support at all. I remember the midwife in the hospital whipping my boob out and shoving dd on there, as the cleaner was mopping under my bed...

I honestly wouldn't have managed it had I not read and read and read before hand and perservered. All of ex-dp's family thought I was mad and didn't understand why I didn't just bottle feed but it was important to me.

Managed it until she self weaned at 14 months.

Now, what can I cook today......?

Morning lovely ladies. Got woken up twice last night by DS chuckling in his sleep - such a lovely noise!

Swampster - snap; am much bigger this time round than last time (with LOTS of twins/you must be due now comments). Think is a combination of a short torso and a body that has some very relaxed musclature going on... am not worried about it (just wait and see me give birth to a 12lber...)

Lardy - dont listen to the silly comments; if you're worried, speak to your midwife (if she's nice). If you want a private scan, would suggest around the 38 week (when friends of ours had theirs done as MW scared them saying their baby was too small - he was 8 lbs!). Would not go for induction (purely personal choice - was induced last time and DS suffered as a result but it was my experience and my bad luck there, know lots of positive inductions too) but do think raspberry leaf tea, from around 34 weeks, will help tone your uterus (you can drink it or just take tablets - order them advance though as they're often sold out!), plenty of walking/bouncing on birth ball to encourage baby down and into right position for birth. Reflexology nearer your due date may help also with setting off labour. And Evening primrose oil is supposed to help cervix thin (not entirely sure about it but some women swear by it) - can take it orally or apply it to your cervix directly (cue lots of images of women hobbling around with crossed legs to keep the evening primrose oil tablets in place...)

Herbgarden - am ok for now thanks. Was horrid though as my roommate is one who got made redundant so am back in solitary confinement - ho hum. Fortunately have a window office so can watch the world go by....

Markstretch - cant believe your DD is ill again; good thing your workload has been reduced! Hope she gets better soon. Crusty eyes sounds yuck!

All those worried about breastfeeding - before the birth get in touch with your local NCT breastfeeding support group and peer supporters. Often they'll come up to the hospital to help you establish breastfeeding and I found the woman who helped me after I gave birth to my DS an absolute angel in human guise - will never be able to praise her highly enough. What you need is time, and reassurance, to get it right and they give you it in abundance.

Spotty - AP is attachment parenting (more baby led than routine led basically). I think every parent ends up doing what works for them, their baby and their family lifestyle - but there are a million and one parenting labels out there and is v difficult to keep track of them...

Right, we're running out of room on this thread (though TBM and Fifi - this is not your cue to arrive Ms Fifi, stay put for a little longer please). Suggestions for new thread titles anyone???

I have never been so knackered!!! There is a pile of laundry (clean, thank God) that is taller than me. Waiting.

Morning!

Thanks Swampster that looks useful. What I most wanted to know about is mothers who were allowed/encouraged to have immediate skin to skin contact as the midwife I mentioned this to was really vague.

TBM I had a bad 3rd degree tear with DS. Although I've never had any symptoms and recovered very quickly a follow up ultra sound indicated areas of weakness around my scarring and although my gut tells me if I have a natural birth it'll be fine there are risks and one of them is a lifetime of fecal incontinnce which I'm not mad about so I hik I'm going to take teh C-section they're recommending.

On the subject of BF can I recommend La Leche League meetings? If you can get along to one before your baby is born you can get a lot of info you'll need and when your baby i sborn you'll have a ready made support network. Feeding DS was a breeze beause he was (still blooming is) a natural but it isn't always so easy - most babies & mums don't instinctively know what to do and help isn't always as readily available as you'd expect (most midwives know NOTHING about BF!)THOM steps off her soapbox...

I asked for - and got - skin to skin immediately after a quick weigh and a wiped-down both times. To be honest, there wasn't much skin available as most of me was still screened off while they stitched me back together again. And the bed trolley thing I was on was so narrow I was scared of dropping the tiny wee thing (as if DH would have let me).

Morning all - firstly lardybump the transcebreller diameter measurement is taken with the cisterna magna and nuchal fold as indicators for some chromosomal abnormalities. They are all measurements in the back of the brain. It's also being used now as a more accurate measurement of the gestational age of the fetus (sorry if I sound like a medical journal, but my TCD measurement was a bit small and my CM measurement was a bit big, so I looked into this in detail). Plus - your midwife will take any private scans into account (we went to Dr Penman at the Kings Hill Medical Centre, and he was great and we were in for about an hour, with 45 minutes constant staring at lo and he did ask us if we wanted to know the flavour...if you don't he won't even go to that area, we could tell straight away, even before he said "and there's her labia" )

MS sorry to hear about DD - good that your work are okay about stuff like that.

We're off up to St Thomas' today for the fetal cardiology scan and I'm shitting myself. I didn't sleep at all last night, and I'm really glad John's suggested a trip to Bluewater before to keep my mind off it a little bit.